Authority of The Trustees of Indiana University

Policy Statement

The Board of Trustees (also referred to as “the Trustees” or “the Board”) comprises nine persons, with eight selected for a term of three years. Five of the eight are selected by the Govern-or of Indiana; three are elected by degree-holding alumni of the University; one student is appointed for a two-year term by the Governor following a search and screen procedure. The terms are so arranged that one member is elected each year by the alumni; the number to be selected by the Governor varies from year to year. The board is required by statute to meet once annually on the occasion of Commencement, but actually meets a number of times per year in public on one of the several campuses of the University, which provides an opportunity for direct contact with the University’s several communities of faculty and students. The Board of Trustees is charged by statutes of the state of Indiana with duties and responsibilities including but not limited to the following:

1. To govern the disposition and method and purpose of use of the property owned, used, or occupied by the institution, including the governance of travel over and the assembly upon such property;

2. To govern, by specific regulation and other lawful means, the conduct of students, faculty, employees, and others while upon the property owned by or used or occupied by the institution;

3. To govern, by lawful means, the conduct of its students, faculty, and employees, wherever such conduct might occur, to the end of preventing unlawful or objectionable acts which seriously threaten the ability of the institution to maintain its facilities available for performance of its educational activities or which are in violation of the responsible rules and standards of the institution designed to protect the academic community from unlawful conduct or conduct which presents a serious threat to persons or property of the academic community;

4. To dismiss, suspend, or otherwise punish any student, faculty member, or employee of the institution who violates the institution’s rules or standards of conduct, after determination of guilt by lawful proceedings;

5. To prescribe the fees, tuition, and charges necessary or convenient to the furthering of the purposes of the institution and to collect the same;

6. To prescribe the conditions and standards of admission of students upon such bases as are in its opinion in the best interests of the state and the institution;

7. To prescribe the curricula and courses of study offered by the institution and to define the standards of proficiency and satisfaction within such curricula and courses;

8. To award financial aid to needy students and award scholarships in encouragement of excellence of achievement out of the available resources of the institution as shall seem desirable and in the best interests of the institution and its students;

9. To cooperate with other institutions to the end of better assuring the availability and utilization of its total resources and opportunities to provide excellent educational opportunity for all persons.

(As in State Statute, I.C. 20-12-1k 1995)

As is evidenced by the listing of duties and responsibilities, the Board is the corporate body charged with a wide range of policy-making and decisional authority by the General Assembly of the State, which grants the powers executed by the Trustees. Other statutes provide that certain actions may be taken by the Trustees only after approval of the Commission for Higher Education of the State of Indiana.

A Secretary is appointed by the Board. The Secretary’s office stands ready to receive items of business appropriate for Board consideration.

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